The recovery of High Wycombe town centre has been “better than expected” after a “difficult” few months brought on by the coronavirus pandemic, HWBIDCo’s chief has said.

Closed restaurants, the cancellation of planned summer events and less visitors to town centre shops has seen High Wycombe struggle as Covid-19 caused devastation across the world.

But the chief executive of HWBIDCo, the organisation that manages the town centre, Melanie Williams said the future is looking bright for the town.

She shared her views with the BBC as they visited the High Street on the same day a recession was announced.

“There’s no denying it’s been a difficult few months for so many of our local businesses, but it’s encouraging that, as a community, High Wycombe is really pulling together to get through this uncertain period,” she said.

“Throughout lockdown we’ve worked closely with many of our independent retailers to develop a robust ‘recovery plan’ and have witnessed fantastic examples of localised adaptability, with companies pivoting their offer quickly and attracting new audiences.

“Whilst we remain cautiously optimistic, we can confidently say that the recovery so far has been better than expected.”

Melanie added that High Wycombe’s restaurants have been thriving in recent weeks too.

She said: “Not only have we seen town centre restaurants re-open and unfurlough all staff, some - including the ‘LUNCH café in the high street - have even recruited more employees.

“The ‘Eat Out to Help Out’ scheme has seen a huge uplift for many of our restaurants and we’re pleased to say two new venues have also recently opened – The Botanic Bar in Paul’s Row, and Al-Barack in Frogmoor.”

A number of businesses have had to think of innovative ways to keep going during the lockdown.

Lata Lata, located in the underpass at St Mary Street, was one of the many restaurants that was not allowed to open its doors to diners for several months, focusing instead on takeaways and catering for the likes of Wycombe Wanderers.

But it has now been able to welcome customers back safely with the help of another local business, ANT Telecom in Bourne End.

The company has provided the restaurant with a state-of-the-art body temperature monitoring terminal, as well as adopting social distancing measures and hand sanitiser.

And with the recent promotion of High Wycombe’s footballing heroes Wycombe Wanderers, Melanie says there is a “new spotlight” on the town.

She said: “Now is a great time for High Wycombe, and we’re excited for the future. It’s been a tough few months for everyone but the town centre, and in particular our independent retailers, restaurants and businesses, are ready to embrace the ‘new normal’ – shop local, support our independents and help High Wycombe become a shining example of Covid recovery.”